The Tale of Solomon Owl eBook

Solomon spent several nights looking for a good place
to pass his days. And in the end he decided on
the meadow. It would be convenient, he thought,
when he was hunting meadow mice at dawn, if he could
stay right there, without bothering to go into the
woods to sleep.

Since there were no trees in the meadow, but only
a few scrubby bushes along the stone wall, one might
naturally make the mistake of thinking that there
could not possibly be a nook of any kind that would
suit Solomon Owl, who could never sleep soundly unless
his bedroom was quite dark.

But there was one hiding place that Solomon liked
almost as well as his home in the hollow hemlock.
And that was Farmer Green’s haystack. He
burrowed into one side of it and made himself a snug
chamber, which was as dark as a pocket—­and
ever so much quieter. What pleased Solomon most,
however, was this: Nobody knew about that new
retreat except himself.

Even if Reddy Woodpecker should succeed in finding
it, he never could disturb Solomon by drumming upon
the haystack. If Reddy tried that trick, his
bill would merely sink noiselessly into the hay.

So Solomon Owl at last had a good day’s rest.
And when he met Reddy Woodpecker just after sunset,
Solomon was feeling so cheerful that he said “Good-evening!”
quite pleasantly, before he remembered that it was
Reddy who had teased him so often.

“Good-evening!” Reddy Woodpecker replied.
He seemed much surprised that Solomon Owl should be
so agreeable. “Can you hear me?” Reddy
asked him.

“Perfectly!” said Solomon.

“That’s strange!” Reddy Woodpecker
exclaimed. “I was almost sure you had suddenly
grown deaf.” And he could not understand
why Solomon Owl laughed loud and long.

Reddy Woodpecker had a very good reason for not laughing
when he met Solomon Owl. Of course, he knew nothing
whatever of Solomon’s new hiding place in the
haystack. And that very morning Reddy had invited
a party of friends to go with him to the hemlock grove
where Solomon Owl had always lived, “to have
some fun,” as Reddy had explained.

For a long time he had knocked and hammered and pounded
at Solomon Owl’s door. But for once Solomon’s
great pale face did not appear.

“Where’s the fun?” Reddy’s
friends had wanted to know, after they had waited
until they were impatient.

And Reddy Woodpecker could only shake his head and
say:

“I can’t understand it! It’s
never happened like this before. I’m afraid
Solomon Owl has lost his hearing.”

Reddy Woodpecker’s friends were no more polite
than he. And they began to jeer at him.